Middle East Crude-Benchmarks mixed; Vietnamese grade strengthens

Middle East Crude-Benchmarks mixed; Vietnamese grade strengthens

SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai were mixed on Monday.Koch bid an April-loading Oman crude cargo at 65 cents above Dubai through the market-on-close price assessment process, but did not attract any sellers.In the spot market, Taiwan's CPC closed a monthly tender seeking sweet crude for May delivery, with bids valid till Wednesday.Gazprom Neft closed a spot tender selling a Russian ESPO crude cargo loading April 3-13. The result is not yet clear.ONGC offered a Russian Sokol crude cargo loading April 27-May 3 via a tender to be closed on Friday.ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE:Malaysia's Petronas has set the monthly price factors for March-loading crude. Vietnam's PV Oil sold a cargo of Chim Sao crude at $2.5-$3 above dated Brent via a tender, likely to Shell, traders said.Last month, a March-loading Chim Sao cargo was sold at $2.2-$2.25 above dated Brent to Shell via a PV Oil tender, traders said at that time. NEWSSaudi Arabia and Russia have differences over a potential deal among OPEC+ oil producers that could ease curbs on supply starting in April, a source told RIA news agency on Monday ahead of a meeting of the group next week. Iraq has decided to freeze its first crude oil prepayment deal,